There are two elements to this story that are disappointing, but they can be fixed.

First, not one member of city council (including the mayor) has ever run their own business. It’s not surprising they don’t know anything about the role of mobile advertising signs.

Fortunately, there’s a solution: people with business experience have to run, and be elected, in the next municipal election.

Second, all city council members have to publicly sign a pledge in the next month confirming their commitment to “transparency.”

It is an outrage that a citizen had to use a Freedom of Information request to discover the number and origin of complaints about mobile signs.

In addition, the staff member who denies a legitimate request for information must be reprimanded by the senior manager in their department, a note to that effect must be placed in the employee’s HR file and the “anti-transparency” behaviour must affect any discussion about pay raises and/or bonuses.

When the subject of politics, at all levels comes up among my friends, someone inevitably says the problem is there are never any consequences for failure.